A few bits and pieces

Yew Choob have received a fantastic response to their wonderful rendition of Oor Wey. Now they’ve suggested taking it one step further and making it into a grassroots song for a grassroots campaign. The idea is to do a version of the song a bit like the Band Aid single, with lots of different Yes groups and campaigners each singing one line of the song. In the accompanying video, we’d also like to give a shout out to as many different Yes groups, campaigns, and organisations as possible. That way the song can show the true breadth and extent of Scotland’s only real grassroots referendum campaign. Are you listening Vote Nob Orders? And maybe the BBC will show oor sang on Reporting Scotland too … aye right …

At the moment this is just one of those mad ideas you have in the pub when you’ve just grabbed the karaoke mic. In order to make it a reality we’re going to need your help and involvement. Firstly, and most importantly, we need a volunteer who is willing to act as co-ordinator to liaise with everyone and act as an initial point of contact. Unfortunately I’m not able to do this myself.

In order to bring this about, we’re going to need someone with video recording equipment, possibly a venue, or venues, for doing the recordings, a sound engineer, someone with experience in video editing and production, and probably a whole lot more that we’ve not thought about yet.

If you’re willing to help, or would like your local Yes group to get involved, please get in touch with me at weegingerdug[at]gmail.com (replace [at] with the @ symbol in your reply).

Solidarity with Scotland

The Solidarity with Scotland website is now online at the following URL www.soldaritywithscotland.com The site is multilingual – more languages will follow soon. The site gives the background to the project, and explains how expat Scots and friends of Scotland outside the UK can get involved in a practical demonstration of solidarity with the idea of an independent Scotland.

The campaign was started after it was revealed that the British Government is contacting foreign governments and companies to gain support for their anti-independence position. The UK Government is inviting foreign companies and individuals to write to the British Embassy or High Commission in their country, in an effort to amass documentation useful to the No campaign.

Solidarity with Scotland invites expat Scots and friends of Scotland to write a letter to the British Embassy or High Commission in their country expressing their support for Scottish independence, and their disquiet that the UK Government is seeking foreign intervention in a peaceful, legal, constitutional and democratic Scottish referendum. The site has draft letters available for download in a number of languages.

The BNG – the largest pro-sovereignty party in Galicia – and the Aragonese regionalist party the Chunta Aragonesista have both expressed their support for the campaign, and hope that their activists will help to spread the message once the European elections are out of the way.

Pilar, who is co-ordinating the campaign from Galicia, and myself would like to offer our sincere thanks to everyone who has helped to get Solidarity with Scotland this far. Unlike certain organisations which get splashed all over your “national news”, this one really is grassroots. No Tory donating financiers or London based PR companies have been involved!

Please tell your friends about the new website, share it on Facebook, tweet it, spread the news.

Tramway

Here are a couple of pics showing the progress on the model tramway. I’ve run out of cork sheeting so can’t do much more for the time being. But it’s slowly coming together. I’m doing this as a reminiscence / memory project for dementia sufferers and elderly people. I care for my partner who has dementia. When you care for a dementia sufferer, one of the worst things is the helplessness you feel, because there is nothing you can do to help your loved one recover. This project helps me to feel that in some small way I can do something for people who are affected by the incurable diseases of Alzheimers and vascular dementia and to encourage them interact with their carers and families.

The track is standard model railway track. I’ve built up the edges with cork sheeting so it is level with the top of the sleepers. The cobblestone are made from a flexible latex roll made by a German model railway company. I cut the roll into strips to lay between the rails and on the outside edge. Later I will add strips of cut up wet and dry sanding paper to make the asphalt road surface.

I’d like to give a very big thanks to Jim, one of the readers of this blog, who very kindly painted a pair of model trams for me in Glasgow Corporation livery. They look beautiful. The trams are currently with a mate in England who is motorising them and putting in working internal lights. Once the work is completed they will run on model railway track. The tram in the pics is a model London tram. The same tram used to run along the end of the street in London where my partner was brought up. It’s brought him a lot of pleasure to see it running around the table top in the living room.

I’d also like to thank Dave, Semus and Jamie for all the suggestions and encouragement they’ve given to someone who is a total novice when it comes to model railways.

And finally. I’ve added a new page to the menu bar at the top. Please have a wee look, and if you can help – with something which is entirely personal and not independence related – I’d be very grateful.

What an absolutely brilliant idea! I have a lot of indy supporting musician friends so will share this idea around to see if I can drum up some help!! So count me in, and hopefully I’ll be able to get some more on board!

Wow, you’re a creative wee dug..Will pass this on to musician friends and draw their attention to the hacienda. I’m too far away to be of any practical help and can’t sing! But I can wish you all the best with the projects. The tram track looks great, specially the tenements.

Making the buildings is the bit I really enjoy. I make them out of thick heavy card. The sandstone effect is done by gluing on blotting paper and inscribing it with a sharp pencil. Then they’re painted with acrylics. Brick effect paper can be printed off from the Internet. The buildings all have internal lights, made from cheapo strings of white battery operated Xmas lights I bought on ebay for 2 quid for a string of 10. The tiled roofs are made with strips of cardboard that you flute, then stick on a thicker piece of card and paint grey. I’m quite happy with this sort of model making – it’s the model railway stuff that does ma heid in.

They’re all based on real Glasgow buildings. Next up is going to be the Sarrie Heid pub in the Gallowgate and Riddrie library (which has an interesting shape). Eventually I want to make a model of the old St Enoch Subway station – but I’ve still not quite got that one worked out in my heid. I had planned to do the old Vogue cinema in Cumbernauld Rd, which is a beautiful example of art deco architecture – but now I’ve built the layout I’ve realised there won’t be room for it.

I have pasted the address of the Yew Choob to everyone i know and they love , What a cracking idea , wish you and anyone doing this all the success in the world, Reporting Scotland …….. BBc…. next year the “song for europe”

I can get you some punk guitarists (I am in a few bands myself) and a drummer/drummers, maybe we could chip in for a studio as know a few that would be great (dunno what I can get in price reduction) and I know some folk that can do a professional film and editing as well!

There is bound to be loads of people out there, personally know a lot of musicians who are pro Yes and a tad cheesed off by the bull we are fed in the media.

It would probably be quite funny to do a la do they know it’s christmas time type thing since we Scots are looked upon a people in need of charity………let me know if you are interested.

As WGD says, this started as a flight of fancy on Yew Choob’s behalf ..we had been at the WOS social Jolly at the Ferry the night before and maybe it was being in the company of so many intelligent, creative and passionate folk, but it just seemed to be a good idea and rather than bin it, we thought we could reach out to the community and make it happen. If we re-post the idea on twitter and facebook then maybe the person we need will see this and get in touch. Yew Choob has a page on Facebook so if you have any ideas or want to be a part of this etc we can use it to keep in touch and a database of sorts, as I don’t want to divert WGD from continuing his creative streak and if this is to work properly it will come together on-line , in the same we as we have all come together. Aye fur Alba 2014.